Mount transfer apparatus



Aug. 5, 1952 c. A. YOUNG ET AL I ,6

MOUNT TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed June 30, 1949 4 Sheets$heet l Chdr/es A.Yourg Harold E. Baker INVENTORS mama ATTORNEY a g. 51952 c. A. YOUNG ET AL 2,695,590

, MOUNT TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed June so, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet-Z Char/e5 A.YOUI1CQ/ F2 0 3 HaroEd 1:15am

INVEN TORS ATTORNEY Aug. 5, 1952 Filed June 30 1949 -c:. A. YOUNG ET AL 2,605,590

MOUNT TRANSFER APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 76 Cha /es A Young 56 58 fiaro/d' f. fiaker INVENTORS 62 w Fig A77'OR/VEY g- 5, 1-952 c. A. Y OUNG ET AL 2,605,590

MOUNT TRANSFER APPARATUS 7 Filed June 50, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet-A NORMALL Y CLOSED r es A. Young Hare/d E. Baker INVENTORS A BY x ag'm f ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 5, 1952 MOUNT TRANS-FER APPARATUS? Charles A. Young, Gloucester, and Harold Baker, Danvers, Mass, assignors to Sylvama Electric Products Inc., Salem, ration of Massachusetts Mass. at corpo- Application June 30, 194:9, Serial No.'1 2,"2146 3 Claims.

' This invention relates to an automatic mechanism for feedingelectric lamp mounts to sealing position upon a sealing machine.

In the manufacture of electric incandescent or discharge type lamps the envelopes thereof are finally closed and made ready for exhausting by sealing the. bulb portion thereof to the lamp mounts. 1

The mount is the common term used to designate the end portion of the lamp and consists of a glass structure having. a flared portion the periphery of which is sealed to the open end of the lamp bulb. A body or-stem portion which the flare surrounds supports the lamp filament or cathode. Such a mount may also have an exhaust tube extending downward therefrom.

The invention provides an automatic means for accurately placing mounts in their sealing positions upon the sealing heads of the sealing machine. operation-difiicult of successful execution. The mount is usually provided with lead wires and may have an exhaust tube which depends from the flared portion and must thereforebe placed in an aperture provided therefor in the sealing head of the sealing machine.

The invention provides, a carrier member for picking up a mount and placing it in sealing position upon the axis of the aperture in a sealing head and another means having a conical or funnel shaped opening throughwhich the lead wires must pass before entering the sealing head. The funnel opening redirects and confines any lead wires which may be outside of the circle of the aperture in which they must be received, to a position where they will be sure to enter the aperture when they are lowered into final sealing position. Means are also provided to coordinate the movements of. all of the elements to feed mounts to successive sealing heads during operation of the device.

It isan object of the invention to provide means to speed the operation of fabricating lamps.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism for successively placing lamp mounts accurately in sealing position upon the sealing heads of a sealing machine.

A further object of the invention is to position the mounts with reliable consistency upon every sealing head as it is presented to its sealing station. I

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanisms which functions smoothly and without injury to the mounts. I

Other objects and features of the invention will more fully. appear from the following. description Certain factors however render this 2 in connection with accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a general front elevation of the mechanism constituting the invention.

Fig.2 is a planviewof the mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a-perspective view illustrating the mechanism used to drive the mount handling elements of the'invention.

' Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating more clearly the drive for producing reciprocating motion of the mount-carrying means; i

the

Fig 5, is anenlarged view of the lead Wire guid- F1510 is a sectional view illustrating the relative position of the parts when a mount is about to be placed in sealing position.

-Th'e invention is applied to a circular type sealing machine for tubular lamps which has a turret I provided with a plurality of sealing heads 2. 'Such a machine is'usually provided with a mechanism'fo r indexing'the heads successively into their sealing position although such a mechanism not a part of the invention.

The'heads 2 are or may be of conventional design being provided with a central conical member 3 having a main axial opening 4 and a plurality of gas-jets 5. A concentric ring 6 surrounds the cone 3 and is universally and resiliently supported to act as a manipulator during the sealing operation in the usual manner.

The mechanism of the invention transfers a mount 1 which it picks from a supply of mounts and places it in sealing position upon a sealing head 2. The mount 1 is or may be of conventional design. 1 A

As shown herein the mount is for a fluorescent lampand has a skirt or flare portion 8 surrounding a stem or press portions which'supports a filament Ill. The lead wires H, connected to the filament extend downward from the press 9. The

mount may or may not be provided with an exhaust tube. Herein a mount is shown without an" exhaust tube it being assumed that'the sealing operation is being performedon the end of the lamp opposite to that having -an-jexhaust tube. The operation of the device is the same with or without an exhaust tube and requires that the mount be presented to the axis of its fsealing' aeoaso A convenient manner of presenting'the mounts to the mechanism is to provide a conveyor 12 which may be of any suitable construction. As shown the conveyor consists of an endless chain I3 passing over a pair of sprockets one of which is driven by a ratchet wheel l4 which is driven in timed relation to the operation of the sealing machine by a driving pawl l5 arranged to engage The pawlmay be driven notches in the wheel [5. by a system it of links and levers driven from an eccentric I! upon a di iven shaft of the sealing machine such as the shaft [8.

The chain is is provided with a plurality of equally spaced mount holders I9 which are kept filled with mounts by an operator. The holders ride upon a supporting rail which in turn is supported upon posts secured to the fioor upon which the machine is mounted. The conveyor is so adjusted that it will present a mount to a predeterminedpick-up position indicated at 20. A pick-up andcarrier member 2| is arranged to lift the mount at pick-up position on the conveyor and move it to the axis of a predetermined feeding in station where the sealing operation begins and is continued as the turret l rotates in the manner well knowQn to those skilled in the art. At the feeding in. station a lamp bulb or tube 22 is held upon the machine turret and is moved down into contact with the mount with its bottom edge engaging the peripheral portion of the flare 8. The axis ofthe feeding instation will hereinafter be termed the working, axis of the mechanism.

The member 2! may be constructed to provide the necessary feeding in movement in any suitable manner. As shown herein it is in the form of a swinging arm secured at one end to an opera-ting shaft 23' which is pivoted at its upper end in a bearing 24-secured to the machine and extends into a box 25 containing a mechanism, to be described, which actuates thearm.

The outer end of the carrier arm has secured thereto a vacuum head 26 in the form of an inverted; cup with its downwardly opening end provided wit-ha sealing means such as a ring of rubber 2? which engages the flare 8 as it is lowcred; intopiclg up position over the mount.

: A partial vacuummay be created in the cup 28 in any desiredma ner. As shown herein the carrier; arm is hollow to. provide av conduit which connects with the cup at one end and with the shaf tzii which is also hollow The lower end of theshaft isprovided with a flexible tube which is position to pick up a mount and to release the vacuumwhen the mount is positioned upon the working axis. I

The shaft 23 is driven by a mechanism in the 4 box 25. The mechanism may be driven in any suitable manner but is desirably driven from a shaft on the sealing machine such as shaft 68.

An auxiliary shaft 3i is journalled on the box and driven by sprockets and a chain from the shaft [8. I F' The shaft 3| has a gear 32 secured thereon which meshes with a gear 33 secured to a shaft 35 journalled within the b x. The shaft 3 1 has secured thereon a drive disc 35 within which is slidably received a trunnion member 3% adjustable'toward and from the axis of the shaft. The member 36 projects into a slot within a lever 3,1. The lever 37 is fulcrumed at one end upon the base of therbox 25 and is pivotally connected at its upper end to, a link which in turn acts to drive a rack 38 guided in its movement along the side of the box. and having its teeth meshing with a gear 39 which drives the shaft 23 by means of a spline All. The lower end of the shaft 23and the hub 41 of the gear are journalle d in the top of the box in a manner to be'described. Rotation of the shaft 34 causes reciprocation of the rack and oscillation of the shaft 23 whichrin turn swings the arm carrying the cup 26 into its operating positions. The extent of the travel of the arm can be accurately determined by ad-' v justing the trunnion 36;

The carrier arm 2| and the cup 25 must also be'raised and lowered to pick up and deposit the; mounts. This may be done in any suitable man-- ner and'is herein accomplished by raising and lowering the shaft 23 bodily. The bottom end of the shaft extends through a slot in an actuator arm =32 disposed substantially horizontally and fulcrumed upon a post or wall within the box 25. As hereinbefore stated the shaft 23 is made hollow to serve as part of the vacuum line and its. lower end is connectedjto a flexible hose which in turn leads to the vacuum valve 28.

The shaft 23 has secured thereto a collar 62X which engages the actuator arm 42 along the sides of its slot.

The arm 42 also has a cam follower 42a mounted thereon which engages the periphery of a cam 43 which is mounted on a shaft 44 journalled in the box.

The cam 43 is concentric for the major portion of its periphery and is provided with two diametrically opposite depressions in which the follower rides to lower and raise the shaft 23 while the gear 39 acts to oscillate the shaft to swing the vacuum cup into pick up and delivery position. If desired a spring 45 may be provided surrounding the shaft and acting against a collar on the shaft to urge it downward.

The shaft 4'4 is driven at the same speed as 48 having a hollow conical structure presenting,

a conical aperture 69 having its large diameter extending upward. Means are provided to move the guide into position just below the vacuum cup anddisposed with the bottom of the conical aperture. @Sflin accurate register with the hole 4' in the sealing head. This small end of cheaper- 51?- ture'49 should be the same size or slightly smaller in diameterthan the aperture 4 as shown in Eig'lO. 1"..1 When the cup 26 is lowered to deposit the mount 'o'nthe sealing head-'the-wi-res first en-' gage the sloping sides of the aperture and are guided directly and positively into the hole 4 after which the guide must be removed to permit the mount to drop upon the conical center member 3of the head. 1 Special means are provided to remove the guide 48 laterally from the mount. To do this the'guide' member is divided into at least two sections 50 which are individually pivoted upona supportingand carrier arm 5| which in turn is mounted on a drive shaft 52 which swings it into and out of active position. v 7 V v The dividing line between the sections 50 desirably is passed diametrically through-the conical aperture 49 and is substantially perpendicular to a radius from the shaft 52. The sections 50' are pivoted upon the pins 53 fixed in the arm 5 l. The sections 50 are automatically held closed when'the guide is moved into operating position and opened when the guide is moved away. This may be done in any suitable manner. A de-' sirable manner of accomplishing thisend is shown herein wherein the torque applied to. the drive shaft 52 to move it into and out of operatingposition acts also respectively to close and open the sections 50 of the lead wire guide. To do thisthe arm 5! has two parts, anactuator arm 54 and a coacting support arm55. Desirably the arm 54 is received in the channeled upperf'ace of the arm 55 and is provided with space therein in which it may have relative motion with respect to the support arm'55. 1 i The arm 55 has a depending sleeve portion: 56 within which *the shaft- 52 is loosely received; The lower end of the sleeve 56 has a cylindrical friction face 51 against which bears "a-friction block 58. The block 58-is held against rotation upon the shaft by a pair of screws 59 passing loosely through it'into a rigid support member 60 secured to the sealing machine; The block 58 floats upon the screws 59 and is urged finto-frictionalengagement with the sleeve 5'6 by springs 6i which expand between the bottom of spring recesses in the block and the heads of the screws 59; The inner end of the block has a semicircular recess fitting closely against the friction face '51 of the sleeve 56. v v r i If desired additional' friction means may be employed such as a steel ball 62 looselyreceived in a recess 63. The ballis'urgedagain'st the surface .51 and enters notches therein when the armis inoperative position and away from operatil flffiositionl f .ITher actuator arm54 is; rigidly secured to the shaf [and ha's'a "paif' 'of "slots 64 extending longitudinally of the arm withinwhichare resavage pair ofistuds 65 secured in the sections 50. The sections 5010f the fguidelare pivoted on th 1115.53 which are in'turn secured in. the arm 55.. It will be readilyfse'er'i that torque appliedilto. Tshaft-i s transmitted through the pins T65 to i the se ti n 0.

'c tkwise t m e th g de i to a e dsit n the 11 st motion thereof closes the sections 52 and Wh th haft-- 523. rotated when they a c c s urth r mQ Qn-Qd t sh ft 1 overcom s the. frictionseti p y thebkmk-fifl an carriestthe suidemtcoperatin postion i tech: ter withtheopeningi 4 thejsealing head..-i Just prior. to g the netractingimotion of. guide theses-I tions' 501are separated to disengag the guide from.

, ture as shown in-Fig. 10 .wherein the aperture is actually 'the'inner. chamber of a hollow cone. The position ofthe. sections must be accurately determined atv alltimes. To insure. this. an additional pair of pins 66 are fixedin the support member in line with the predetermined centerline between the sections. Symmetrical notches are formed in the opposite edges of the sections50 within which one of .the 'pins 66 are received whenthe sections are closedxandianother pair of similar notches which embrace .the other pin when the sections are separated as shownin Fig. 5. In this man-' ner the two sections are positively guided and held such'as the stop v$8 which is made adjustable foraccurately setting the arm position.

. In describingthe mechanism within the box 25 it was stated that the gear 39 is providedwith a hubv portion .4]. through and 'isrotatably received in. abearing 69 in-the. top of the box 25- The hub extends beyond the bearing 69 and has secured thereon an arm 10. ,The gear. 39 is-held against vertical bodily motion by reason of a shoulder formed on its hub and a .collar II which embraces the bearing 69..

- .ThearmJll. acts .to. drive the shaft 52 which actuatesthev guide member 5|; .The connection may, be-mad'e in. any desired manner. As shown herein a .link.12.is pivoted to the arm 10 atone endand: to.,fan'other arm 13 secured to' the; lower.

endoftheshaft52.

The;ilower.,.end of. the'shaft. 52 is rotatively mounted-.inarbearing "1.4;which in turnis secured tov a..-fr.amei15'fastened.to the main frame of the sealing machine. Support for the upper end .of theshaft 521 is'obtained by securing the friction block; 58 to a bearing. block 16 which in turn is secured toxthe frame 15. and through which the shaftfreelypasses.v

.Foripurposes 'ofuniformity in manufacture it desirable-that the. mounts be'placed in sealing position with their filamentsarranged inLa uniform;.-.manner.'l :One desirable result of. such. an arrangement: is to insure that theirelative position of the filaments or cathodes at each end "of the lamp can be. aligned in a predetermined manner. Any suitable structure maybe .employedfor this. purpose. One means for accomplishingthis end is .to secure. to' the arm 5| a positioning wire 11 the outer. end of which is concentric with the axis of th shaft 52, the concentric portion being positioned to engage the filament on the mount I upon the. return stroke of .the armi I. .As the wire I1 wipes by the filament it will automatically rotate:;the mount until .itsfilament lies tangent to theicirclealong which-the sealing heads move. If found .desirable other orienting means for the mounts may be used to supplement the wire TI or they may. .be. used independently. Such other .The operation of the mechanism is asfollows.

This hub is extended upward r the Working axisby reason of thecombined action.

of the-rack 38 and gear 39 and the cam 43. Dur-. ing this inward movement the lead wire guide 48 also moves into its acting position with its sections 50 closed. The cup 26 is then moved down by the action of the cam. 43.

This downward movement feeds the lead wires into the aperture 4 in the sealing head. The vacuum in the cup is then released'which. deposits the mount upon its guide. The arm 5| and the carrier arm 21 then start to move into retracted position, the first. application to torque upon the shaft 52 acts through the arm 54 to open the sections 50 of the guide thus permitting the guide to move away from the mount. The carrier at this time moves to its pick up. position while th arm 5| moves out away from the sealing head to a positionwhich will avoid contact with other machine parts. When the guide 48 moves away from the mount, the mount assumes its sealing position upon the sealing head. Immediately thereafter a lamp tube is placed in the'turret l of the sealing machine with its end above the mount.

The lamp tube is then moved down into contact with the mount. This placement of. the lamp tube maybe manual or automatic and is not a part of the present invention. i

The lamp tube and mount are then sealed in the conventional manner.

A refinement of the invention resides in the protection afforded the filament where, inthe particular case illustrated herein, a mountis shown for a hot cathode discharge lamp. In such case thecathode filament. it is coated with an emis sionmaterial which may be partially blown; away if subjected to a blast of air.

To prevent such' damage to the cathode the cup 26 is desirably of special construction. The vacuum conduit leads from the arm 5| tolone'or more vertical conduits 79 formed in the walls of the cup. The conduits [9 connect with openings 80 leading into the inner chamber of the cup adjacent its lower marginal portion .or lip. The volumetric capacity of the vacuum. pump must be great enough to produce apartial 'vacuumjin the cup when a mount ispresent thus to'hold the mount in position onthe cup. q I

It-mustbe assumed in the operationiof' the device; that the mounts: will not necessarily always seat themselves tightly against the gasket 21 due to possible irregularities in the skirt or forother reasons'in which case a'leak. of airwill enter the cup and might injure the-cathode. However any air which enters the cup is withdrawn through the ports 86 and is thus routedtawayfrom the filament.

' Another feature which adds to theeflieiency of operation. of the cup-is the provision of a bleeder opening 8!. which leadsfrorn the vacuum conduit to the atmosphere. .LW-he'n the vacuum valve 28 shuts oifthe vacuum-the blcederinsures that the vacuum'will-be quickly-reduced torelease of the source is connected to one side of the 8; normally open switch 29 the other side of which is connected to one side of the magnetof a normally open double pole double throw relay 83. The other sideof the magnet coil; connects 'to one side of the normally closed switch 29a the other side of which connects to the solenoid coil. Thus when the arm 30 closes the normally open switch 29, the relay is energized: which causes the switch blade-E ite close upon the contact which closes. the circuit through the solenoid of valve 28 which in .turnappliesvacuum to the cup 26. The relay also moves the knife 86 to engage the contact 81 which by-passes the normally open switch29.

The shaft 23 then moves to-ieed a mount to its sealing position at which time the arm 30 moves away from the normally open switch 29. However as pointed out its circuit remains closed by the relay thereforvacuum is still applied to the cup 26. When the cup reaches its delivering position the arm 30 opens the normally closed switch 29a which opens the circuit to the solenoid coil of the valve 28 and the relay coil. :The vacuum is thuscut ofi? and the relay open circuited. The mount now drops from the cup to sealing position and the arm returns to pick-up positio where the cycle is againrepeated. What'weclaim is: w .1 I r 1. In combination with alamp sealing machine having centrally apertured sealing heads, apparatus for transferring mounts having lead wires depending therefrom from a supply thereof to the sealing machine heads comprising: a mount carrier arm; a mount holder on said arm; means, for oscillating said arm between the mount supply'and above alamp sealing machine head; means for actuating gs-aid mount holder topick up a mount from the supply thereof and release said mount when itis above and in register with'a lampj sealing machine head; a'wire guidemeans including a splitfunnel; means for oscillating. said .wiregguicle means-to and from a position above and inv register with the lamp sealingmachine head. and between the head and said mount holder andin timed relation to the oscillation ofsaid mount carrier arm and the mount holderf thereon whereby the mount holder presents a .mount tothe: delivery position above and in registerwith. the lamp sealing machine head when the funnel; of saidwire guide means is disposed therebetween;,means, for opening said funnel as the wire guide oscillating means starts to move from a position overalamp sealing machine head and closing said funnel the wire lamp sealing machine head? t g j 2. In 'combinationflwith alamp sealing'machine' having centrall'yapertured sealing heads,'"apparatus for transferring. mounts having lea'd-' wires dependingftherefrom from azs'upply thereof to l the; sealingf machine heads comprising; a mount carrier arm ;amount hold'er on-"sai'd arm: meansj'foroscillatingsaid arm'betw'een the mount sup ply and above a "lamp *sealing' machine head; means ffor' actuatingfsaid mount holder to pick up amountffrom the supply thereof, andrelease said mount 1sabove and in registerwith a'lam-psealing machinehead: a wire guidefmeans 1 guide oscillating iheansljs'tarts'tomove toward a mending 3; 'split funnel; means "foroscillating said wire guidemeans to --andfro'm =a-- position above and in r'egi'ster' with the -lam'p sealing' machine head;-and b"etweeri th'e' head and'sai'd mount holdt'e'n' and i timed relation: to' the oscillation of said mount' carrier'"arm andtithej mountiholder thereonmeans ion-opening? said i funnel'asthe;

wire guide oscillating means starts to move from a position over a lamp sealing machine head and closing said funnel as the wire guide oscillating means starts to move toward a lamp sealing machine head.

3. In combination with a lamp sealing machine having centrally apertured sealing heads, apparatus for transferring mounts having leadwires depending therefrom from a supply thereof to the sealing machine heads comprising: a mount carrier arm; a mount holder on said arm; means for oscillating said arm between the mount supply and above a lamp sealing machine head; means for actuating said mount holder to pick up a mount from the supply thereof and release said mount when it is above and in register with a lamp sealing machine head; a wire guide means including a split funnel; means for oscillating said wire guide means to and from a position above and in register with the lamp sealing machine head, and between the head and said mount holder, and in timed relation to the oscillation of said mount carrier arm and the mount holder thereon; means for opening said funnel as the wire guide oscillating means starts to move from a position over a lamp sealing machine head and closing said funnel as the wire guide oscillating means starts to move toward a lamp sealing machine head.

CHARLES A. YOUNG.

HAROLD E. BAKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 734,734 McBerty July 28, 1903 1,593,825 Higgins -1 July 27, 1926 1,813,565 Conn July 7, 1931 1,947,610 McNamara Feb. 20, 1934 

